Mass Effect: The New Life
by LegionPlatform1183
Summary: Five years have passed since the events of the Reaper invasion and what was believed to be their first ever failed harvest to date. Commander Shepard gave his life to defeat them in a battle which took place on Earth. Specialist Samantha Traynor moved back to London in a bid to help the rebuild effort, now returns to spacer life when a position on the Citadel comes up.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Five years have passed since the fight in London, during the battle for Earth and all-out war for the survival of the galaxy. Not a day passes where I don't have images of intermittent glowing red lights through the brown haze. And that noise. The spine-tingling horn of mass death, a sound that brought us closer to losing everything each time and being unable to do anything but watch or die in its wake. That is until the noises stopped, and the giant skeletal structures fell to the ground while others floated into the sky never to be seen again.

Commander Shepard is who we have to thank for this, he gave his life to stop the Reapers from decimating all in their path. We all knew that we had to destroy the Reapers or be destroyed ourselves but we just didn't know how, Shepard accomplished this but nobody knows quite what happened, it seemed like an impossible task. Then again, that was Commander Shepard all over. His body was never recovered through all the wreckage and rubble, or what would have been left of it, I suppose. Some claimed to have discovered it on a section of the Citadel business sector – fell from a ship and collided straight into a building apparently. But those of us who were there know better than to believe those rumours.

The victory was pure relief, after the initial celebrations at not being dead or wiped out completely we were hit with the sombre facts; Earth was in disarray, hundreds of millions had been lost across the galaxy and people were still suffering. However the real gut-wrenching reality was that not all of these atrocities were committed by those devil machines, Cerberus had played its part in the most unimaginable crimes against humanity too. God, it still gets me angry thinking about it now. The woman who was in my position aboard the Normandy SR-2 before me back then was tracked down and executed in the middle of all of this on the Citadel. It makes me even more thankful for my position with the Alliance during that time, and the amazing people I had to work with.

I was involved with the rebuilding and clean-up but shortly after Admiral Hackett demanded that all of us take extended leave to get our heads straight. I'm not sure I could have enough time to recover from what I saw though. During that time I met someone who had been in the thick of it in London when everything was happening and we became close. Very close. Her name is Jane and she became a medic after the battle for London after saving a man's life with no training whatsoever, other than an Alliance soldier giving her instructions over a radio. Fast-forward a couple of years and I was still with the Alliance and virtually settled down. Not something I imagined for a communication officer who liked make-up, spa treatments and chess.

We had also been helping with the victims of the Cerberus experiments when we found you and your brother; we helped a lot of people whose lives had been ruined by the "pro-human" group. There was just something about you two which we grew to love – strength, a will to survive and a feeling of loneliness, two boys cast adrift and betrayed in this intergalactic war. And you were both as cute as a pair of buttons, too! When Jane said she wanted us to take you on as legal guardians I was shocked, didn't know what to think. Every part of me told me that it was a crazy idea, "No way! Are you serious?" I remember telling her and then she asked me again. She asked me in a way that I knew I had to say yes, if we didn't take you two on you would continue to be two lost souls in the vastness of space; there was no telling what would become of you. So I said yes – for the time being anyway. And now here we are 5 years later…

_Samantha Traynor_


	2. Chapter 1 - An end once and for all

**1 - a****n end once and for all**

It was five years since the Reapers had been defeated and the galaxy was in a constant state of repair. What was destroyed in days would take years to properly rebuild, but races which had previously fought each other to the death were now helping each other to live. Samantha Traynor had been living on Earth since the war ended aiding the Alliance where she could to try and get London to where it once was before. She and her partner Jane lived beside their two adopted sons; Ryan and Bentley, who were now 18 and 20 respectively. Bentley had moved to the Citadel about a year ago after getting an admin job. Ryan also dreamt of living off-world and they were soon going to fulfil that dream after they announced that they would be moving to the Citadel wards for a new Alliance opportunity Samantha had agreed to.

Samantha and Ryan stood in an empty room with rays of the sun casting triangular shapes on the carpet below. Samantha Traynor looked very similar to how she did 5 years previously, a combination of good genes, advancing medical technology and a healthy interest in spa regimes she often thought. Ryan Traynor, who had taken her last name, was a fairly standard looking 18 year old. He had short black hair which had a tendency to peak and spike itself up above his forehead and an unmistakably smooth face pierced with 2 brown eyes. If nobody had known otherwise one could probably assume that they were actually biologically related somehow aside from the age difference.

"Do you remember what I said?" Samantha asked, head tilted.

"How long until we take the shuttle?" Ryan replied, absent-mindedly as he looked out of the window up at the light blue sky spotted with diluted clouds.

"Never if you answer another one of my questions with a question."

Ryan sprung himself from his leaning position and spun around, "I remember what you said."

"Good." Samantha couldn't help but curl one side of her lips upwards, before forcing her face rigid once more. "So you'll enrol at the biotic academy when we get to the Citadel. No excuses."

"Yes, ma'am" followed-up by a mocking salute. Ryan made his way towards the centre of the room and sat on the empty floor.

They had a modest apartment in London; 10 floors up, lots of right-angles and a warm, non-offensive colour scheme. However while they lived in this space and before they had moved all of their things out it was surrounded by tech and otherwise useless accessories.

"Are you looking forwards to seeing your old crewmates? Do you even know where they all are?"

"I'm not entirely sure to be honest, I'm still in contact with some of them who work for the Alliance off-world; James Vega, Steve Cortez, Ashley Williams, EDI and Joker." Now it was Samantha who had moved to the window and was looking longingly up and out over the sky.

"That's the guy and the robot?"

"It's not quite… okay, yes, that's them." Samantha didn't really have the energy to explain and she quite felt in the mood to talk about her beloved old comrades.

"Garrus Vakarian – uh, that's the blue Turian scar-face with the robotic eye accessory."

"Gotcha."

"He's a hHeigh-profile C-Sec officer and Tali…" she turned her head to Ryan quizzically.

"I know, the Quarian lady."

"Well Tali vas Normandy works for the Quarian government now, but she still visits the Citadel regularly to see Garrus. I keep in communication with most of them. In fact, I'm not sure if Tali's name is even 'vas Normandy' anymore now that the Normandy is grounded."

"It seemed like a really cool ship, why did they dock it?"

"I don't know. Maybe after Shepard and Anderson... or maybe because there's no need for a super-advanced war machine anymore."

"Or maybe they're going to open a museum? You know, like an Alliance freak show? 2 credit entry, 10 credit thresher maw burgers."

"Ha, with VI's of all of us on display?" Samantha allowed herself to laugh after being deep in thought about her old squad mates. "Have you packed all of your things?"

"Pretty much, apart from my toiletries. You've got your toothbrush, right?"

"Of course."

"Now we're _really_ ready to go then, I suppose."

Samantha's attention turned to the window once more and she soaked in the vista one last time, her head moving from the skies to the distant buildings to the ground below.

"What's up?" Ryan joined her at the window, the two stood there as the last remaining objects in their apartment.

"It's just… when I was younger I lived in London with my parents then we moved off-world. We were so lucky to avoid the Reapers. I can't help but feel a sense of deja vu."

"So using that example, doesn't that mean that it'll be for the best?"

"I suppose." She eventually responded. "But in that case…" she turned to face her son, "Does that mean this is all going to happen again? If I leave will something else tear London apart?" she took one last look outside the window, at the sight she would see for the last time from this point.

"Isn't the cycle every 50,000 years? Not every 5?" said Ryan, sarcastically trying to ease the atmosphere.

"Maybe, but I'm not even sure if that's true anymore. Nobody knows what happened when Shepard took down the Reapers, the Citadel was damaged and the conduit was completely destroyed. They could be gone for good or they could be back any day now."

"Then I suppose the Citadel would be the place to be then, from what I've heard. The catalyst? They have a better idea of how to stop them if they come back now."

"I hear that the team who helped stop them were geniuses." Samantha allowed herself to smile once more and with one last breath moved away from the window. She and Ryan gathered the last of their things and left the apartment for one last time.

The two made their way through the familiar streets that they had known for all of these years, nothing much was said but they knew that they may not be back here for the foreseeable future. Samantha found it strange; she had travelled and lived on Earth, outer worlds and even the warships in between but she felt sad and even worried about leaving. Ryan, on the other hand seemed excited and not phased at all by leaving the planet. Maybe she was getting old, she thought. Or maybe she just had the experience to know that things could change at a moment's notice.

They arrived at the Alliance shuttle heading to the Citadel and the soles of their feet left the ground of Earth one final time. The journey up wasn't too long, but they took the time to look over the sights of the planet they called home.

"Are there many people up there who speak like… us?" Ryan finally broke the silence, his accent while obviously English, less refined than the Oxford-educated Samantha.

"Not many." Samantha smirked, "but some. There was this one guy who used to work with Commander Shepard on the Normandy before me, he was a bounty hunter called Zaeed Massani. I don't really know where he was from or what his story was, but I met him once at a gathering and he seemed to have an accent which originated from somewhere in London. Can't say that I got to know him very well, though."

"He sounds kind of dangerous. What happened to him?"

"Garrus told me that he was killed in some kind of mercenary fire fight on an outer world a couple of years ago, doing a job."

"Wow, bounty hunters? That doesn't sound very much like an Alliance member. Was he the only one?"

"Yes, I think so anyway. The members of the crew were legendary and had done all sorts, so who knows. I think that Grunt might have dabbled in some mercenary work over the years too from what I've heard."

"Well then, it sounds like the Citadel is a place to call a home to me." Ryan and Samantha both turned and smiled to each other as they left the atmosphere and travelled into the starry expansion beyond.

"_You are clear for landing, do you need ground transport?" _came the sharp voice through the shuttles comm. system.

"No, thank you. We'll be fine. It'll be nice to have a walk around the Citadel after all this time." Samantha seemed to be relaxing now that they were close to landing. Ryan had travelled to the Citadel a few times before for a short period of time, but now that he would be living under the holographic sky it would be very different, Samantha thought, she hoped she had made the right decision.


	3. Chapter 2 - Spacers

**2 – Spacers**

Resembling blood vessels in a vein, hundreds of ships sped along the enormous curve of this part of the Citadel. A blue block of the Alliance shuttle broke away from the swarm and made its way across towards one of the many coves carved into the he structures either side of them and descended down into the Presidium.

"Now this brings back some memories." Samantha said in awe as she stepped off the transport. The Citadel Presidium looked the same as ever; dozens of alien species all getting on with their lives and this mammoth station was their whole cylindrical world. It was almost as if nothing mattered outside of the reach of the Citadel arms and that made her feel slightly uneasy.

"Wow, is it always this busy?" Came Ryan's voice following her out of the shuttle.

"Always. Sometimes busier, this is pretty much the central hub of the universe, where all of the species of the galaxy hang out."

"And now we're here, this really _is_ the place to be. I have to check this place out." Ryan yearned to explore the Citadel now that he had the freedom to travel with the knowledge that he didn't have to rush to get a transport back to Earth to be home.

"Really? Well while you're exploring you may as well go to the biotic academy. You know, like we agreed? I can send you the co-ordinates and the location to our new apartment to your omni-tool, so you have no excuse."

"Urm, thanks. Ma."

"No problem, junior. Oh and before you go, just promise me you'll stay in the higher, shiner parts of the Citadel, okay? Those are the safest parts." Samantha faced her son for a moment and her face hardened. "But seriously, you must absolutely promise me not to go anywhere stupid and absolutely not to any of the bars."

"Okay, I guess that's a fair in exchange for a new house in outer space."

"Good. I'll see you back at Wards; don't be too long, they'll be lots of footlockers for you to unpack." Samantha began to compose herself and walk away.

"I can't wait."

She smiled as she forced herself to walk away, body feeling tense. Samantha tried to play her feelings off and be the cool older influence, but she was worried about leaving him alone in the bustle of the Citadel. Maybe this meant she was actually growing into her guardian role, she thought and muttered "don't worry, I can always contact him on his omni-tool" as she turned the corner and gave him one last smile before disappearing.

Ryan was all alone on the Citadel. He looked around in amazement; this had been an ambition of his for as long as he first looked up into the skies and saw the unnatural, synthetic looking shapes hoisted high beyond the clouds above. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but he always longed to travel up and into space, maybe it was the experiences of his guardians who planted the seed, a seed which it was time to water, he thought. Immediately to his right was an Elcor, this was the closest he had ever been to one. Their size was even more impressive than he had previously thought.

"Warmly. Human. Your presence is required. Do you have an interest in donating to the Endearing Elcor Association?" the voice came out of the creature like the deep voice of a robot inside a reverbing bathroom.

"No, thanks. I'm oka-"

"Assertive persuasion. May I tell you more about our org-"

"_No._ Thank you." Ryan interjected and backed away to make his escape, he looked behind him to check the Elcor wasn't slowly perusing and ran into something directly in front of him.

"A careless collision, ample room around." Ryan found his eyes fixed on a red-skinned Salarian now facing him. "Ah. Human, in juvenile stage. Too young to be working in Presidium, could you be workers' offspring? No, against regulation. Shopping? Unlikely, do not look like gun accessory purchaser. State your intentions for being here." The Salarian stood staring at him and in his reflective black pools for eyes Ryan could see himself starring back.

"I'm… just looking." Ryan comprehended what else he could possibly say.

"Looking? Yes. Obvious, did not consider you to lack visual abilities. Assumed they were functioning properly."

"Look, I'm not doing anything here; I just arrived and thought I'd look around." Ryan had begun to back away once more from yet another bizarre individual. He made his way through the crowd and tried not to make eye contact with anybody else until he found an elevator.

Ryan left the elevator at the next level its next stop, he was aware of seeming out of place so he tried to style everything out and act as if he knew where he was going. Nonchalantly walking over to a barrier that oversaw the central body of water which ran through the Citadel Presidium, he leaned over to see the scores of buildings all along the curved walls; he was even more awestruck by the surroundings than he expected to be. The body of water below boasted fountains at numerous points which produced fine mists of water vapour against the backdrop of metallic silver.

Looking to his left, the walls stretched on beyond his eyesight and into mere fuzzy imagination. A high-pitched chirping sound pierced his ears from above him and he looked up to see a group of birds flocked on a high wall. Standing frozen in fascination he wondered if they were especially brought here to breed on the Citadel, or if they were even real and not some kind of artificial life. Birds in outer space made him think about how he would fair out here, it was almost a poetic irony of his flight up into spacer life.

Ryan continued to admire the ambience of his surroundings, the subtle whir of shuttles passing by, the chatter of people around and a pulsating rhythmic beat coming from behind him. He turned to see where the noise was coming from and saw a purple arch with the word "Purgatory" across it. An excitement began to tingle through him and before he knew what he was doing he had begun walking towards the arch. What was once a distant rhythm had now become an overwhelming assault on his head and senses.

Purple lights flickered throughout the dark space he now found himself in and misty figures moved skittishly throughout. The interior was a multi-layered structure comprised of various sized platforms making up each level; below him he could only see individuals through the periodic flashing of strobe lighting. Ryan made his way to the set of stairs which took him to the main floor up from the entrance and the next logical step seemed to be to continue left to the busy bar area. He still didn't fully know his reason for being here, other than the gratuitous exploration.

The bar area boasted an assortment of people including groups of uniformed Alliance members and not knowing where to walk, he instinctually headed to an empty seat by a table. There he remained for approximately 10 minutes, simply watching the people and soaking in the atmosphere. He thought it slightly ironic that he had come to the Citadel in search for alien life and to experience infinitely unfamiliar cultures and had ended up in a bar. But soon his naïve bubble was burst when he saw the unmistakable slim figure through the mist of purple haze, patterns of dark black being temporarily visible against fair skin in between the flashes of blazing white light.

The legendary biotic Jack had just walked past where he sat through the way Ryan had mere minutes earlier. Ryan knew of Jack well – as many had, but even more so because of their very similar pasts. Being a biotic and a former Cerberus facility "resident", Ryan felt a level of connection to Jack that most others could not. She was in fact something of a hero to him and one contributing reasons he gave into Samantha's demands of enrolling in the _Ascension Project_ biotic academy was due to the very fact that she ran it.

The new academy has only been open for a few years but Jack was the only one in contention to lead it, considering everything that she had gone through in her past. And to make matters even worse, Samantha had told him of the fact that she had lost not only the man who rescued her from her self-destructive lifestyle, but moulded her into the person she was today. She also told him that the two became a couple since sometime during the collector abductions, making the whole thing even more tragic.

They were apparently very good together despite the obvious personality clash, so he was told. Jack had made her way past him without so much as a glance gotten a drink from the bar and made her way over to another empty table to observe a datapad she was holding. Jack was now a palpable individual to Ryan, sitting only across the room from him. He couldn't take his eyes off her as her stare burned with fiery concentration into the pad she held in her hand, but with every second that passed came a nauseous anxiety that her eyes would shoot upwards in a split second and catch his gaze.

Aside from being terrifying, it would have been rather awkward should she recognise him when he would eventually go to the academy. Ryan felt that he should do something but was completely at a loss as to what, so his fingers began tapping away at a keypad on the table surface followed by his omni-tool flashing a slight orange. A mech scurried over to his table with a bottle and was gone as soon as it had arrived. Ryan didn't know what he was going to do but he figured that the soothing of an alcoholic beverage would help him make any such decision. For ten more minutes he sat and drank and watched as Jack continued to study her datapad.

_One more and I'll really be relaxed_,Ryan thought to himself as another bottle clanged down onto his table and the contents unceremoniously emptied into his mouth. He was feeling slightly less anxious now, but was still none the wiser of how he would go about making himself known to the living legend in front of him – feeling slightly less able to focus on a plan, but it bothering him even less still. _If I go over to the bar, I can get a cocktail… and I'll be a bit closer too._ In the kind of behaviour that would only be questionable if sober, Ryan made his way out of his chair for the first time since Jack's arrival and towards the bar.

Approaching the bar and following a badly disguised glance over at Jack, a trio of men briefly turned their heads to face him as he arrived. He nodded at them with a drink-induced, artificial relaxed look on his face and leant himself against the smooth countertop.

"I'll have a Quad Kicker" he said to the approaching cocktail waiter who simply nodded.

Ryan watched as the drink was prepared and stole himself a casual look to the general vicinity to his right. Still there and still reading.

"One Quad Kicker, sir" came the voice from the behind the bar as the hand of the waiter placed down the colourful concoction.

"Thank you", _now try not to drink this too fast_, his inner voice interjected. His fingers gripped the glass by its finely polished stem and lifted it to his lips, in a sophisticated manner. His nose was suddenly on fire. He tried not to cough but unwittingly let out a huge blast of air in response to the spicy drink and as if in slow motion, the pool of liquid he was holding sprayed in every direction – including onto the back of the head and uniform of the Alliance soldier standing next to him.


	4. Chapter 3 - Jack

Ryan was lost within a split-second in time, before he could even steal himself to turn to face the man they were all around him.

"Sorry about-" he started.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing?!" the one with the liquid on the back of his head bawled.

"It was an accident!"

"There's a _reason_ that we're the only ones at the bar at the moment."

"Because it's late afternoon?"

"No! We're Alliance – people give us respect, those old enough to know anyway. But perhaps your parents didn't teach you anything about that."

Armed with the unshackled social graces of a few drinks, Ryan didn't think before reacting in anger and thrusting out his arm. The three men who previously cornered him against the bar suddenly slid back a short distance on the soles of their feet as they stood.

"What?! You're a biotic? You don't look old enough to drive a skycar!" the main aggressor said as he clenched his fists. They all gave each other swift looks before slowly advancing upon Ryan once more.

"Biotic or not, you aren't going to be able to outdo three of the Alliance's finest."

Ryan bolstered up his stance and only now facing men at every direction did he realise the predicament he was in. There was nothing that could be done at this point, however, so he prepared to concentrate all of his energy into something more substantial than a little biotic push. As they loomed at a slow but steady pace towards him he simply waited what seemed a long time for one of them to make the first sudden movement. But the movement that eventually came was from a forth figure.

"Alright, what's happening here?" Came a voice spoken in a weary sigh from the unmistakable voice of Jack.

And there she stood to the left of Ryan, the "uniform" which adorned unnecessary missing pieces of material, revealing a plethora of patterns tattooed to her skin underneath, her hair an abrupt line scaling vertically up her scalp and behind her head. It was Jack alright, Ryan thought to himself, almost forgetting the situation he found himself in for a moment.

"J-Jack?! This kid's drink somehow ended up on my head!" bellowed the main man, pointing accusingly in Ryan's direction.

"It was unfortunate – a sneeze at the wrong moment" as the words came out of Ryan's mouth Jack turned to look at him and their eyes met for the first time.

"Well, no use crying over spilled… Brandy, right?" Jack said turning back to the Alliance man.

"We need to tech him a lesson!" one of the Alliance sidekicks chimed in from the side.

"Three soldiers versus one kid? Not really a fair fight. Or are you _really_ that upset over a sneeze? I would hate to see how you deal with stuff in actual combat", Jack's words pounded on the man as he appeared to shrink at everyone.

"This isn't your business, get out of the way or…" the man exploded into anger once more, then realising that there was no way he could possibly finish that sentence begun an awkward silence.

One side of Jack's lips curled up in a rather sinister version of a smirk and she slowly walked up to the man and focused laser-like eyes onto his.

"Or you'll what? I'd like to hear it."

There was no sound in response.

"Of course, that's what I thought. Now get out of here or I _will_ destroy you!" without unlocking her eyes from the man, his two friends slowly reversed down the corridor to the entrance, the third man seemed to almost be pulled magnetically along after them.

This was the time, as if some omnipotent force was controlling the galaxy – he had been forced into this situation.

"Urm, thank you" Ryan said to the back of Jack's head. She turned from watching the men disappear out of the entrance and gave him a stony stare.

"You don't even look old enough to be in here. But I don't give a shit" she began making her way back to her table.

"Wait!" Ryan seemed to utter without thinking. Jack turned back one more to face him, her face stonier still. "I need to talk you." Jack's face did not move. "About your biotic academy here on the Citadel – the Ascension Project Academy."

Jack's face was still hard and frozen for a few more seconds.

"What, you? Ha, I don't think so." She continued her journey back to her table.

_I've gone this far, I'm going to have to go all the way with this, _Ryan thought to himself in a somewhat "potential last words" train of thought and began carefully shadowing her steps. Her frown suggested that she was not impressed when she saw the young man following her.

"You picked a weird place to enrol; I don't usually pick-up cadets from bars. So you'd better get out of here before I'm done _asking_ you to."

"But… I am a biotic. You saw me using my biotic abilities."

"Yeah, so? I don't just have people in the academy because they're biotic, you have to actually have some ability, some potential. You think that just because you can push a couple of guys a few feet that you're good enough? Maybe I ought to have let those guys wail on you a little longer." Once again she began walking back to her table.

"You're a Cerberus biotic, right." All doubt had now evaporated from Ryan's voice.

Jack ceased all movement and froze where she should. Every pore on Ryan's skin seemed to fortify as he stared at the back of her head in what appeared to him to be like being stuck in a painting.

"What did you say?" Jack finally twisted her head ever so slightly towards him. The silent tension extended for a few moments more until Jack had turned to Ryan and began marching back towards him. "Listen you little dipshit, I don't know what your game is – if you're out to make a name for yourself being killed by a seriously pissed-off biotic but whatever it is I'd happily to end you right here!"

"I am too. I was raised by Cerberus in one of their labs and they gave me biotic implants and that's how I have my abilities. I heard that the same thing happened to you and that's why I think I'd be perfect for your biotic academy."

There was silence thereafter.

"You want to join the Ascension Project Academy? Fine. But you'd be damned if you think you'd actually survive – that's if what you've told me is even true. Now if that's everything then I _really_ suggest that you get out of here."

Ryan took this piece of advice and headed for the exit.

Samantha arrived at the apartment that was to be her new home in space. It had the strictly functional décor typical to Citadel architecture; dull chrome and smooth glass making up the environment around her. To anyone else this may seem alien, but she felt that returning to the Alliance again was her true home. Samantha found her way to the bathroom for her first call of duty in her new home with but one small object in her hand out of the mounds of unpacked footlockers, she placed the object on a shelf followed by a near bottomless sigh leaving her lungs.

"An unused toothbrush as an ornament. I'd probably seem quite insane if you didn't know the amount of crazy things that I've seen." It was the Cision Pro Mark 4 that Commander Shepard had bought her to replace the one he had broken getting into the Normandy, she could never bring herself to use it and kept it as a memento to the late Commander.

She was beginning to think that maybe everything was coming full circle when the mechanics of the front door snapped her out of the moment and a woman met her gaze as she stepped out of the bathroom. An oval face with large brown eyes and short sandy hair immediately faced Samantha where she stood.

"Jane" she said moving forwards to embrace the other.

"It's good to see you. How are you settling in?" responded back a distinctly American accent. Jane and Samantha had been together since the final Reaper attack on London 5 years ago.

"Barely – I just got here a few minutes ago. How are things up here in the Alliance top brass?"

"Busy. But I'm guessing you already knew that. It's like were managing a whole galaxy or something" Jane replied, her lips slowly beginning to resemble a smile.

"You know, I haven't had a chance to look around the apartment properly yet – you could help me explore" Samantha said in her most devilish tone of voice as the two of them locked arms in the midst of the empty space and kissed.

The Citadel's artificial sun had dimmed to half-light and the holographic sky had turned a dull orange as night fast approached the station. Ryan had left Purgatory and was making his way through the thinning crowds of people to the new apartment and was back at the Presidium Commons he first arrived at earlier in the day. _The future is set_ he thought to himself, considering all the potential possibilities and monumental challenges that now faced him in every aspect in his life – and not just the idea of having to face Jack again. He knew that good would come out of it in the end and that if nothing else his biotic abilities had to be harnessed and honed for the sake of his own safety.

Ryan arrived at a path splitting 4 ways and was forced to stop and think where he was going rather than get lost in his own idle thoughts. He was following the navigational route displayed to him by his Omni-Tool, which was smoothly and directly leading him through the area, he would check it periodically to gauge his location. He looked down to check it this time and in the milliseconds it took his eyes to focus on the display his attention was immediately dragged to a flash of light from beyond, his ears were then rocked by a massive noise and he felt something like a gust against his skin and hair which seemed to go through him and affect his inner organs too. An explosion had hit the Citadel.


End file.
